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She's a professional cook, she says she's not using sugar, yet you think her sauces taste too sweet, so rather than trust her or ask her to cook less sweet-tasting sauces or fire her because you don't like her cooking you want to run chemical tests on the food? Why don't you just put a hidden camera in the kitchen?

You can see that this is insane, right?

Any person who is intolerant to wheat has had the experience of going into a restaurant and telling the server about the problem, and asking if this item or that contains wheat. "Let me go check with the chef," the server says. She comes back "No, that Salmon has no wheat."

Later, the salmon is served and has bread crumbs all over the surface. You point this out to the server and they say "Oh, sorry, it does have bread crumbs."

Is the server or chef incompetent because they didn't answer the question correctly? Maybe not. Maybe they just don't have the appropriate experience to answer that question. Are they lying? Probably not. It took me three years to get wheat out of my diet. Why would I expect someone who is new to the idea to be able to sort out what has wheat and what doesn't have it expertly?

Why is it any different with a chef who cooks Paleo, but has no experience cooking Paleo. They might add a sauce or some other ingredient that has a grain or high fructose corn syrup, and maybe they just missed that on the label. I'm hiring the person because they know how to cook. I'm not hiring them for their ability to understand and articulate Paleo concepts.

There is nothing wrong with testing to make sure you get what you are paying for? No, I don't see it as insane.

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No, that's pretty insane. This is a pretty straightforward way of eating. If you don't add sugar, you are adding what? HFCS from a bottle? Fruit juice? Seriously man. Paleo is meat, fats, vegetables, fruit.
You could try:
"I'd like these sauces to taste less sweet, if possible - what is it in here that's making it taste sweet?"
"What are the ingredients in this sauce?"
If your personal cook can't answer, then they are incompetent end of story.
If I worked as a cook for someone who ran chemical analyses on my dishes I would be outta there so fast.

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No, that's pretty insane. This is a pretty straightforward way of eating. If you don't add sugar, you are adding what? HFCS from a bottle? Fruit juice? Seriously man. Paleo is meat, fats, vegetables, fruit.

High Fructose corn syrup gets added to virtually everything. It could be in a tomato sauce. I was shocked to find out that they add sugar into roasted turkey in the deli, and when you ask for slices of fresh turkey it has plenty of sugar in it.

You could try:
"I'd like these sauces to taste less sweet, if possible - what is it in here that's making it taste sweet?"

Why is your method better than mine? Your question is fuzzy, inarticulate, and imprecise. My method is identify which specific foods have a sugar issue and then dig down into ingredients for only those foods. I want to identify precisely, quantify precisely, and then spend time talking about the right things.

"What are the ingredients in this sauce?"
If your personal cook can't answer, then they are incompetent end of story.

Of course I am doing that too.

If I worked as a cook for someone who ran chemical analyses on my dishes I would be outta there so fast.

Given how sarcastic and unhelpful you are, who would want to hire you?

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am i correct to assume you've had a detailed conversation about what you will and won't eat? if so, it would behoove this person to cut corners and lie. seriously. isn't this his/her career? if you were a diabetic client, adding sugar to the sauce could kill you, ya know?

instead of subterfuge, ask more precise questions about what he/she is using to impart sweetness. carrots and red peppers can add sweetness to sauce without there being added sugar. so can caramelized onions. or perhaps they are using fruit juice and not thinking that the juice has added sugar before it goes in the dish? open communication will foster a more integrated relationship than will you automatically assuming sabotage.

oh, if you're hiring out a personal chef and they are using jarred tomato sauce with hfcs, they should be fired.

As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.

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There is nothing wrong with testing to make sure you get what you are paying for? No, I don't see it as insane.

Why don't you just set up a hidden camera in the kitchen? While you are at it, why not put a keylogger on her computer too? Maybe you could hire a PI to dig through her garbage looking for grocery receipts.

Female, 5'3", 50, Max squat: 202.5lbs. Max deadlift: 225 x 3.

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I don't think that's insane
Still living at home, I got tired of asking my mother about ingredients after saying I cut sugar and veg oil
That quickly led into me starting to cook all my dinners
I became a goddamn good cook

The guy has a right to know what he's putting into his mouth, when his chef is maybe unaware of hidden ingredient

Everything is bad for something - How do you feel today?

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I don't think that's insane
Still living at home, I got tired of asking my mother about ingredients after saying I cut sugar and veg oil
That quickly led into me starting to cook all my dinners
I became a goddamn good cook

The guy has a right to know what he's putting into his mouth, when his chef is maybe unaware of hidden ingredient

What kind of professional chef is unaware of hidden ingredients? Yes, I think he should know what he's eating~ after all, he's paying to have it prepared a specific way! But I also think the best way to have it *your way* is to do it yourself.

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The guy has a right to know what he's putting into his mouth, when his chef is maybe unaware of hidden ingredient

if the chef is using convenience foods or shortcuts, or unaware of ingredients, they are incompetent and not worth a penny.

personal chefs, especially those that cater to special diets, are spendy. they need to be hyper-vigilant about what they are using and cooking. or they can kiss their career goodbye.

As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.

– Ernest Hemingway

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[FONT=Book Antiqua][SIZE=3]am i correct to assume you've had a detailed conversation about what you will and won't eat? if so, it would behoove this person to cut corners and lie. seriously. isn't this his/her career? if you were a diabetic client, adding sugar to the sauce could kill you, ya know?

Your assumption is that lying is the only reason they would tell me a false fact. But that's not a valid argument. The person might simply not understand how all the ingredients metabolize. Someone might assume an ingredient is "fresh" but in fact the store or manufacturer loaded up the product with sugar without proper disclosure. I gave a clear example of that with deli roasted turkey.

instead of subterfuge, ask more precise questions about what he/she is using to impart sweetness. carrots and red peppers can add sweetness to sauce without there being added sugar. so can caramelized onions. or perhaps they are using fruit juice and not thinking that the juice has added sugar before it goes in the dish? open communication will foster a more integrated relationship than will you automatically assuming sabotage.

I agree open communication is key. But nothing I ever said here would suggest I had done anything other than open communication.

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Why don't you just set up a hidden camera in the kitchen? While you are at it, why not put a keylogger on her computer too? Maybe you could hire a PI to dig through her garbage looking for grocery receipts.

I don't set up a hidden camera because a hidden camera wouldn't measure sugar levels in the raw ingredients.

Further, your assumption is that I am sneaking behind her back and trying to prove something against her. All of that is false. I have been very forthright with her and she with me. Nothing is being hidden.

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I don't set up a hidden camera because a hidden camera wouldn't measure sugar levels in the raw ingredients.
Further, your assumption is that I am sneaking behind her back and trying to prove something against her. All of that is false. I have been very forthright with her and she with me. Nothing is being hidden.

Raw as in fresh, not canned or other type of a 'convenience' preparation? Because if it's 'raw' then the sugar would be a natural part of the food and not an additive. If it tastes sweet to you, maybe it just because your taste buds are more sensitive.

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Well, I don't think it is insane either. But people think I'm insane for being thorough too. That being said, I wonder if it the cooking process that makes them taste sweeter. I've dehydrated bananas and plantains before, and they were too sweet for me to eat. All the moisture was drawn out leaving a concentrated product. Stewing, boiling out excess water, etc could make them more concentrated. Another option is at she might not be using what she considers sugar... Lots of people say oh this is healthy because I used honey or agave nectar, etc but at the end of the day, sugar is sugar.

Don't let anybody tell you, "You can't" just because they can't.

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Well, I don't think it is insane either. But people think I'm insane for being thorough too. That being said, I wonder if it the cooking process that makes them taste sweeter. I've dehydrated bananas and plantains before, and they were too sweet for me to eat. All the moisture was drawn out leaving a concentrated product. Stewing, boiling out excess water, etc could make them more concentrated. Another option is at she might not be using what she considers sugar... Lots of people say oh this is healthy because I used honey or agave nectar, etc but at the end of the day, sugar is sugar.